This statement will restrict any lengthy elaboration in defining what a table saw is, or how it is used, as the reader can be spared this redundancy. Suffice it to state, a table saw is a machine, or body of a machine of convenient height, having a flat deck, or support surface, on which a workpiece is rested while being cut by a blade, or dada set, or other cutting tool, projecting through the deck from below, and powered in most instances by an electric motor. In this statement “table saw” will be the assumed machine with which the invention is utilized, although use with other types, such as bandsaws and inverted routers, would be practicable. Further, “blade” will include any and all cutters; and it is implied that workpieces of materials other than wood can be involved.
The most common operation performed on a table saw is the rip cut, wherein an element known as the “fence” is secured to the saw so as to be adjustable in its lateral spatial relation to the blade, allowing the operator to select the width of workpiece to be removed from one which is wider. The objective is to keep the stock, or workpiece, tight against the fence so as to produce a straight uniform cut, and prevent danger arising from the work drifting away from said fence, thus becoming bound up and resulting in a violent reversal of movement. This is the situation that results most commonly in an injury to the operator. Therefore there are many devices, or prior art, put forth in the field that address these hazards, many of high merit.
The workpiece is advanced over the blade manually unless propelled by a power feeder. The use of a power feeder, or stock feeder, allows greater accuracy and safety, and its position can be biased, or “crabbed” to impart lateral force, pressing the workpiece tightly against the fence. However, the mounting of a power feeder on the deck of the saw restricts the lateral travel of the fence, and so limits the width of material that can be cut. Thus it is set aside often because of inconvenience, and the re-installation deferred for various reasons. The purpose and advantage of the present invention is to facilitate the use of guides or feeders mounted directly on the fence, thus eliminating the restriction of lateral movement of the fence, and increasing the convenience and safety of such operations.
The “T-square” style fence is today most widely used, as it can be attached as an after-market accessory to most saws, and is now supplied by numerous makers. These fences have many merits, and accomplish good results when used by an operator with sufficient skills; but suffer one common deficiency, to wit, the distal end is not fastened to the deck of the saw. This condition makes it vulnerable to loss of alignment from rough handling of materials, and precludes the use of the invention(s) herein described, in that the downward force of a stock feeder, or any non-motorized spring-loaded workpiece guide of substantial force, would simply lift the distal end of the fence. These fences lock into position laterally by use of a cam at the front, in a cross-head, tightening onto a rail by the downward movement of a handle. The basic body of one of these has been used in the development of the invention(s) herein described, as the inventor desired to retain the cam-locking feature, which also becomes an essential element in the invention.